CLEARWATER, Fla. - Shelby Manns drove in three runs and Gabrielle Decker tossed five shutout innings to lead NJCAA No. 9/FCSAA No. 3 Tallahassee Community College past St. Petersburg College, 9-0, in the 2015 season opener, played at the annual JUCO Kickoff Tournament and Showcase.
Tallahassee (1-0), the reigning FCSAA State Champions, broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the third then busted the game wide open with five more an inning later.
Danielle Patterson led off the Tallahassee third with a double and scored on an RBI-hit by Decker. Later in the inning, Manns drove in her first run of the game, a single that plated Decker. Brianna Tourtillott finished the scoring with a two-run triple that put Tallahassee in front 4-0.
Manns had the big hit in the fourth, a two-run single as the Eagles opened up a 9-0 lead.
Decker, making her collegiate debut, picked up the win in the circle for Tallahassee. She allowed only three hits and struck out five.
The Eagles will return to action on Saturday with two more games in Clearwater - 9 a.m. vs. Gordon (Ga.) State College and 1:20 p.m. vs. Richard Bland (Va.) College.
*TCC Sports Information
